Kid Created Christmas Ornament

I really don’t like taking down the Christmas tree, but this ornament helps soften the blow by being one last Christmas suprise as well as a fun, cute, and kid friendly ornament. This craft has all the fun crafty things my children like to do. We got to paint, use glitter, wrap things in paper, and the craft involved candy – what more could they ask for. Painting the cardboard rolls two colors necessitates drying time, so this is a good craft to do while waiting for cookies to finish baking, etc. My kids enjoyed this craft, and it was something they could personalize too. And, no hot glue was needed – which makes the craft so much more kid friendly.

Supplies: (for one ornament)
1 cardboard tube (you can use toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, even empty wrapping paper tubes)  cut to length – about 8 inches
1 in. foam brush
8 ½ in. by 11 in. piece of red craft paper
Red and White craft paint
Craft Glue
Glitter
Christmas candy

What to do:
First, paint the cardboard tube white. Set aside to let dry. Apply a second coat of white paint. Set aside to dry.

Next, paint the red stripes. A twisting stripe is harder to do, and I don’t recommend it for younger children. The straight stripe is easier to get looking nice, and little hands can do the straight line easier.  Set aside to let dry.

After both colors are dry, place craft glue on the white stripes and sprinkle glitter on them. Set aside to let dry.

While the glue is drying, take a handful of Christmas candy and wrap it in a narrow tube of red craft paper. Twist the ends to close the paper, leaving 2 to 3 inches of craft paper before the twist. The roll of craft paper needs to fit inside the cardboard tube, so watch its thickness and length. The candy part of the roll needs to stay inside the roll.  The idea is that this is supposed to look like a wrapped piece of candy, but the cardboard keeps the candy safe inside.

Push the craft paper roll through the cardboard tube until the paper ends are sticking out the end of the tube. Tie the craft paper at the twists with string to keep closed.

Crunch and fluff the ends of the craft paper until it looks the way the paper looks on taffy.

Place on the tree.

The nice thing about this craft is that, at the end of the season, there’s just one more surprise waiting on the Christmas tree. The day the tree comes down, and the ornaments are put away, these ornaments can be opened and shared for one more Christmas treat. And that helps to soften the blow of taking the Christmas tree and decorations down– which is my second least favorite part of January, right up there with New Year’s Resolutions. But I’ll have to talk about New Year’s Resolutions at another time.

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